8%
Complete

Chapter Two

The Context of It All

Part One

CONTEXTUALIZING CONTEXT - Food chains and carrying capacity? Understand the context by watching the story below.

Read Story Instead

Prefer reading instead? Here's the text version of your lesson.

Go!

Questions & Activities

Reflect on your lesson with short activities, or by exploring referenced articles, featured podcasts, term definitions, and more!

Go!

Featured Hot Take

We all need a little context. How to get it? Pollsters help! And few are as informed as Shachi Kurl, the Executive Director of the Angus Reid Institute. She took time away from analyzing the news – and our opinions on the news – to join us in conversation.

We’re featuring this podcast across all five Nature Labs subjects. You might not like every course you take in school, but they are all related. By listening to this podcast, hopefully you’ll better understand why.

More on Shachi Kurl

Reflection

  • What did you learn from Shachi's story?
  • Does polling inform better research? Does it help create more empathy for those we disagree with?
  • How valuable is it to have unbiased, impartial research to better understand public opinion, as scientists and as citizens?
  • Like science, do you believe polling to be unbiased, or can the questions that drive the research be loaded or leading, helping create answers that reinforce certain perspectives?
  • How do we create more movements that unify, rather than divide? Can science help?

Did this story leave you with a question? 

Ask a scientist, get an answer!
The best questions will be answered by Environment and Climate Change Canada’s scientists on video just for you! Make sure you include your name and school.

Part Two

THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES WILL HELP YOU BETTER UNDERSTAND THE CONCEPTS YOU NEED TO LEARN IN THIS CLASS. YOUR TEACHER WILL SELECT WHICH ACTIVITIES YOU NEED TO COMPLETE BELOW.

Defining Your Community

Who are your people? Why do you need them? Get to know yourself and your communities.

Explore

Mapping Biodiversity

What's your natural context? Find and map the biodiversity hotspots in your community.

Go!

Understanding Your Views

How has your upbringing shaped who you are? Why is it important to understand the context of others?

Begin

What's Your Context?

How do you think we should balance people and nature? Start brainstorming! * Recommended

Brainstorm

Core Concepts

Learn more about this chapter's core concepts: food chains and carrying capacities.

Learn

Species Interaction

Understand food chains through species interaction. Learn from the teachings of biologist Verne Lehmberg.

How?

Owl Pellet Dissection

See the food chain in action by dissecting an owl pellet. Learn from the teachings of biologist Verne Lehmberg.

Start

The Curated Library

Use the Curated Library to compare and contrast different perspectives on an issue that interests you.

Search!

Part Three

HOW DOES THIS CLASS RELATE TO REAL-WORLD ISSUES?

Inquiry Media

Does one individual matter?

Go!

Further Exploration

Latest News

Inflation and the Economy: Rate Cuts

News
Yesterday saw the Bank of Canada - our non-partisan central bank that stewards Canada's economic interests and monetary policy - cut interest rates by...
Read more

Happy National Wildlife Day!

News
National Wildlife Day is your chance to celebrate all the awesome animals that share this planet with us. From giant elk casually crashing the...
Read more

Predicting Our Year Ahead

Careers Resources
Part One: Warm Up Think of one event from the past school year — in Canada or the world — that left a strong impression...
Read more
Load more

Resources From the Curated Library

Interesting science: plant eats salamanders in Ontario

Interesting science: plant eats salamanders in Ontario Sub-Category: Food Chains Source: CTV News File Type: Video Overview: Interesting science: plant eats salamanders...

GPS Tracking Shows How Much Wolf Packs Avoid Each Other’s Range

GPS Tracking Shows How Much Wolf Packs Avoid Each Other’s Range Sub-Category: Carrying Capacity Source: Earthly Mission File Type: Map Overview: GPS...
More From the Curated Library

Food Chains and Carrying Capacity

Science Resources
Review this lesson's key concepts and terms, before testing your knowledge below. BiodiversityDownload Food Chains and Carrying CapacityDownload What is carrying capacity? What three factors influence an ecosystem's...
Read more
17%
Unit completion

Chapters

Chapter One

The System of Things

Go

Chapter Five

Here’s How

Go

Chapter Nine

Own Your Hypocrisy

Go

Chapter Two

The Context of It All

You are here!

Chapter Six

Your Turn

Go

Chapter Ten

Keep Going

Go

Chapter Three

We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know

Go

Chapter Seven

Dig Deeper

Go

Chapter Eleven

One Last Thing

Go

Chapter Four

Hard Stuff is Hard

Go

Chapter Eight

Be Better

Go

Chapter Twelve

The End (of the Beginning)

Go

Quick Links

The Digital Ecosystem
Breaking News
How To’s
The Curated Library
Virtual Experiences
Mount Robson’s Locals
Teacher Manual

Follow Us

11,678FansLike
65,895FollowersFollow
13,700FollowersFollow
1,575FollowersFollow

Our Story

Who We Are
Behind the Scenes
Contact Us
FAQ
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions

More

All content on this website is protected by copyright law. Unauthorized copying, reproduction, or distribution of any materials, including text, images, and graphics, is strictly prohibited without prior written consent from the copyright holder. Thank you for respecting our intellectual property.

© 2025 Ghost Bear Institute